Current Research + Creative...

Current Research + Creative Activities:M.F.A. VISUAL ARTS - GRAPHIC DESIGN

MARYWOOD UNIVERSITY 2015–2018 CURRENT RESEARCH: My current research is concentrated on what is actually happening in contemporary time. As part of this research in contemporary art, I participate in Professional Practice Study Tours in major cites in the Northeast where I interview some of the top designers in the field. The persons that I meet during the sessions are all contemporary, successful graphic designers, illustrators and art directors.

These sessions are held during Fall and Spring semesters providing me with exposure to the major centers of applied art in America. Weeklong experiences include: visitation of museums, galleries, artists’ studios, design agencies, AIGA and Society of Illustrators. They include lectures by the country’s most outstanding art directors, designers and illustrators, slide shows, critiques on previous assignments, and ongoing creative problem solving experiences.

At the end of these studies, through these weeks of Professional Practices, I have met with a myriad of the country’s top designers and illustrators; I’ve been taught by outstanding instructors of design and illustration; been challenged and critiqued by knowledgeable teachers and art directors; and have been exposed to excellent contemporary art and design.

In addition to the Study Tour interviews, I am conducting interviews with industry professionals related to my Thesis project. These interviews offer valuable insight into current industry practices.

In order to address the contemporary value of my contribution in the field of graphic design, I am engaged in the following practices:

• seeking objective information from contemporary sources (magazines, newspapers, web sites, design/illustration experts, art/design critics and interviews)

• reviewing/summarizing contemporary factors that influence my work:- political events- the humanities and sciences- art/design trends- technical advances- issues related to my specific focus: advertising, planning, strategy and interactive media

• interviewing contemporary deeigners that influence my work

This document includes a list of the the people and organizations that I have researched and interviewed along with a sample of articles that I have written from my MFA Professional Practice Study Tours.

The knowledge I’ve gained through this one-of-a-kind MFA program “Get Your Masters with the Masters” has brought an even broader perspective and wealth of information to both my classroom and my work.

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Portfoliodarylstevens.com

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instagram.com/darylstevensart

Study Tour Interviews:FALL 2015: New York, NYYuko Shimizu - yukoart.com

James Warhola - jameswarhola.com

Matteo Bologna - mucca.com

Arlen Schumer - arlenschumer.com

Aaron Padin Head of Art and Design, J Walter Thompson - jwt.com

Milton Glaser - miltonglaser.com

Jim Hoover Viking Children’s Books - penguinrandomhouse.com

Bob Mankoff cartoon editor, The New Yorker - newyorker.com

SPRING 2016: Scranton PA.ShanShan Wang - shanshanshanshan.com

Cole Hastings - colehastings.com

John Cole & Kevin O’Neil Scranton TimesTribune

Michael Knies curator The Zaner-Bloser Penmanship Collection

Don Rash - Bookbinder and Printer

Marie ONeill Creative Director, Highlights / Boyds Mill Press - boydsmillspress.com/bmp

Lindsay Barret George - lindsaybarrettgeorge.com

John Kascht - johnkascht.com

Ruth Fremson - www.instagram.com/fremson

FALL 2016: New York, NYChris Dixon design director, Vanity Fair/Conde Nast - www.vanityfair.com

Ray Cruz & Steven Brower - cruztypedesign.com & stevenbrowerdesign.com

Marguerite Van Cook - margueritevancook.com

Rodrigo Corral creative director, Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Tyler Comrie & Alex Merto designers - fsgbooks.com

PSYOP - psyop.com

Floyd Cooper - floydcooper.com

Diana Schoenbrun - dianaschoenbrun.net

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SPRING 2017: Baltimore, MDDavid Plunkert Spur Design - spurdesign.com - davidplunkert.com

Joyce Hesselberth Spur Design - joycehesselberth.com

Nolen Strals Post Typography - posttypography.com

Kyle Van Horn Baltimore Print Studio - baltimoreprintstudios.com

Abbott Miller Pentagram - pentagram.com

FALL 2017: New York, NY

Gail Anderson - gailycurl.com

Gail Bichler New York Times Magazine - twitter.com/GailBichler

Pablo Delcan - delcan.co

Seymour Chwast - Pushpin Studios - pushpininc.com

Adam Padilla Brandfire - brandfire.com

Leonard Marcus - leonardmarcus.com

Rudy Gutierrez - rudygutierrez.net

Joe Burrascano Aardman Nathan Love Animation - aardman.nathanlove.com

SPRING 2018: Philadelphia, PA

American Philosophical Society - amphilsoc.org

Fabric Workshop & Museum - fabricworkshopandmuseum.org

Frank Baseman - basemandesign.com & basepress.co

Dan Gneiding - grayhood.com

Heads Of State - theheadsofstate.com

Christina Hess - christinahess.com

Brian Biggs - mrbiggs.com

Thesis Interviews:FALL 2017: Nashville, TNJoel Anderson Anderson Design - andersondesigngroupstore.com

Tom Davis Multiplatform designer - Lonely Planet - lonelyplanet.com

Kevin Hinson Tourism branding expert - BrainSpur - brainspur.com

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David Plunkert

Spur Design - spurdesign.com - davidplunkert.com

SPRING 2017: 4/5/17 Baltimore, MD

Visiting the studio of David Plunkert and wife Joyce Hesselberth at Spur Design was the highlight of my study tour in Baltimore. When we arrived, David gave us a tour of his studio and showed us a variety of his poster and design work for various clients. His studio is filled with interesting quirky things that he’s collected over the years. He uses found and collected objects in his DaDa inspired illustration style.

In addition to his print work, David showed us some stop motion animation projects he worked on for They Might be Giants and explained ho his experimental process works. The visit was a peek behind the scenes of one of the most creative individuals that I have ever met and I came away feeling inspired.

David is one of the few illustrators that I have met who is staying active and has steady work for major clients. His style of design and illustration is a nod to the DaDa collage era but feels current and timeless. It seems as if his style never goes out of style. This may be in part to how he recycles history and objects from the past in a unique direction.

“It takes a lot of confidence to just print your sketch.” –David Plunkert

Process Notes:

• His line drawings are done small• Then enlarged, blurred, filled, etc.• Keep the “character” of the line• Reflex 072 makes drawings look better• Keep a simple line• Scan textures from everything you find• Build your own personal database of images to use• Find stuff in public domain• Look at flea markets, antique shops etc.

My Takeaways:

1. Look close at your influences.2. It’s good to be inspired by historical movements.3. Recycle history.4. Use materials you enjoy.5. Look at the “character” of the line.

“I try to do it like a 10 year old in a 50 year old body with Photoshop.” - David Plunker

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Aaron Padin

J. Walter Thompson - Head of art and design - jwt.com

FALL 2015: 11/5/15 New York, NY

The presentation at J. Walter Thompson was a unique opportunity to see the inner workings of one of the largest advertising agencies in the world. Aaron Padin, the Head of Art and Design introduced us to his 4 personsenior design team and they presented some of their work while talking about their design methodologies.

J. Walter thompson a design and advertising agency focusing on global branding, products and campaigns. According to Aaron, “at JWT design is the core and the possibilities are endless”. They gave us a peek at the branding process and their range of work which includes: Pure design, campaigns, naming, ideation/concepting and style guides (brand and campaign).

“At JWT, we visualize a whole graphic device system” –Aaron

He said that design is the CORE and campaigns are the lowest thing.

“Campaigns are disposable, but brand philosophy lasts for years” –Aaron

Aaron described ho he use to do his fun design outside of work then one day decided to do his fun stuff at work. This was a big change in his life and has led to some amazing work. It was helpful to see how they came up with multiple design pieces from a video they did for a non-profit, pulling frames from the video to make posters.

“You have the assets, you created them, blow it out!” – Aaron

Aaron shared that they used a certain photographer for a project and it was a bonus that the photographer had many followers on Instagram.

“More is needed than talent… it takes Heart, Drive and Stamima” – Aaron

My Takeaways:

1. Keep drawing and experimenting, this may wind up what people pay you for.2. Talk a good game to support your design.3. Think of every possible direction when problem solving.4. When showing clients solutions, make sure all of them work just in different ways.5. If you want to work with the big agencies, you need an agent.6. Try to get your fun work into your paid work.7. Aaron likes to see what your doing outside of the paid work since often it is more interesting.

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Milton Glaser

miltonglaser.com

FALL 2015: 11/5/15 New York, NY

Walking up to the beautiful building on 32nd Street where Pushpin Studio began and where Milton Glaser’s studio is today I felt like I was entering a moment of living history. Upon entering the studio we were greeted with a huge totem pole and we walked upstairs to a small conference room where we waited with anticipation for the living legend.

When Milton walked in, he sat down at the table and said “Who are you and what do you want?” Immediately I knew that he did not want us to waste his valuable time. He began talking about how printmaking, etching, engraving and lithography were early influences in his work and how process is a key part of design. He said “the speed of the computer can be a tremendous detriment to young designers.” He talked about how the design process is not the same on a computer and how the artist is affected by the medium used.

“The brain is changed by the stroke that you draw” –Milton Glaser

Milton talked about design much like a doctor talks about the body. He shared wisdom about how the mind of the artist works. When you have done it as long as he has, you get really down to the basics of understanding what an artist does. He talked about drawing being the same as meditation for him. He said “everything begins with drawing” and “The only thing that matters is what the brain invents looking at something and reinventing a way to repeat it.” He has a smart way of saying the most common sense things that sound genius.

“Try to understand what is real” –Milton Glaser

It was great to meet a design legend like Milton and I really value the opportunity to listen and learn from a living legend in our industry. Milton is quite an amazing person to listen to considering his accomplishments and philosophy on art and life.

My Takeaways:

1. You’re too old to truly re-invent yourself, you evolve and mature.2. Get back to using the mediums that you enjoy working with.3. Be the best designer you can be and people will learn from it.4. DO rather than SAY.5. It is not a one way street between your mind and your hand.6. “Everything begins with drawing.” – Milton7. Designers need time to think about each step during the design process.8. Drawing is like being in a state of meditation.9. Reinvent what is real. 10. Drawing is living.

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Joel Anderson

andersondesigngroupstore.com

FALL 2017: 10/10/17 Nashville, TN

While developing my Thesis project, there were many challenges to overcome in order to create the images. Seeking advice from designers in the tourism market quickly became necessary for my research.

After interviewing several design experts in the tourism industry, I gained valuable advice which helped steer this project toward my goals. The people I interviewed all have many years of focused experience in branding and product design locally and internationally in the travel and tourism market.

One of the primary experts that I interviewed was Joel Anderson, a Tourism Product Designer at Anderson Design in Nashville.

One of the first challenges of this project was to gain a better understanding of who the target audience is. Based on my interview with Joel Anderson, both tourists who are visiting Nashville and locals who are living in Middle Tennessee are potential buyers. However each group tends to be attracted to different subjects. He said that “Some designs appeal to what tourists want and expect to see, while other designs appeal more to locals. Locals want images that depict less known places and subjects that are not as mainstream as what tourists buy”.

Determining what the subject of each image would be was the next challenge of this project. Understanding what is appealing to tourists and how to capture a memory is important. Joel said “They want something that helps them create a memory and to hang on to. They want a romanticized image of the place. They want to be a part of something that is going on.” The subjects that I arrived at are based on local knowledge of places and their history, what areas are known for and what people identify with in those areas.

The next challenge involved determining how to position the product line in relation to the existing products on the market. There were several things to consider, first and foremost was how to differentiate the product from the competition. Joel Anderson’s advice was to think about “What are the untapped markets within the larger tourism market? Find the places, themes and subjects that have been underserved are another way to stand out from what is being done.”

My Takeaways:

1. Draw from both expected and unexpected subjects. 2. Find the themes that have been untapped and work on those markets.3. Create images that capture memories.4. Have an exotic style that is unique.5. Depict some form of life in each image.6. Do not depict people that are too close-up or distinguishable.

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Creative Activities:As a visual artist from Nashville, I am passionate about creating work based upon cultural themes and landmarks from Tennessee history. Firmly rooted in where I’m from, where I’ve been and who I am, my unique body of work conveys my experiences and stories from the past and present. The work also embodies the local spirit. By featuring subjects from national historic landmarks to country music icons, I use my artistic voice to welcome all to experience the state’s rich history of entertainment and agriculture.

Much of my art is inspired by memories of places that I’ve visited and cultural influences from my childhood. There is a history behind each image and more to the story than meets the eye. My work invites the viewer to learn more about each place it represents and to create their own experience in Tennessee.

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